Young couple I know recently moved to the Washington heights area and can't seem to find the foods they are looking for. They are vegetarian, and having grown up in israel, the are used to buying beans, lentils and rice in bulk for really cheap, as well as in season veg and fruit. They find everything that is fresh and healthy to be very expensive. They tried whole foods and a farmer's market ( don't know where). Anyone know of a ggricery store or market that might cater to the more ethnic rather than hipster/yuppie cook? Especially looking for freh veggies, fruit, beans, lentils ( dry, not canned) and grains. They don't mind taking a bus/subway.

They can also go north a bit to the Bronx. Kingsbridge/Riverdale. On Broadway there's a Stop and Shop and also another supermarket. (Foodtown?) Near 230th Street. The prices are better than Manhattan and it's not that far away. You can catch a bus or the #1 train to get there, short ride.

For now farmer's markets are a good way to go (in the Heights, they aren't too far from the Inwood Farmer's Market on Sundays), but for next year they should definitely look into a CSA for produce. Its by far the cheapest way to get fresh, organic vegetables in NYC. They can check www.JustFood.org for a group near them.

As for dry goods, Fairway is good. But I'm surprised just places like C-Town (regular old cheap grocery store) isn't yielding results, I know in Inwood (again not too far from them, last 2 stops on the A train train, or 1 train to the low 200's) the prices were pretty low for rice & beans. If they can get to a BJ's or Costco that's probably their best bet.

Whole Foods in Manhattan is like slitting your wallet's throat and watching it bleed to death.

My NYC references are all 4 years old, so there may have been some changes, but I used to live two blocks east of Broadway near 193rd street, just by Dyckman Valley Elementary. There was a little mom&pop Dominican market on the opposite block - Nagle Avenue between Hillside and Ellwood. You could get pretty good prices on beans/rice, etc. and they had decent produce and lots of ethnic items. If it doesn't have to be organic, just plain/fresh and cheap, bodegas and neighborhood markets have some surprisingly good produce sometimes. Not necessarily local, but they have a lot of turnover.

I can also recommend Ahn's Market and Franks' Market on 187th between Ft. Washington and Cabrini. Frank's has more high end, organic/gourmet and vegan stuff, but also staples. Ahn's has better produce, a lot of it locally sourced.

If they really want serious Bulk, they can Zipcar or rideshare with someone and hit the Costco in Yonkers - that's what we used to do. It looks like there might be a Costco in Manhattan now at 117th Street? That is new, I don't know much about it.

Since you mentioned they grew up in Israel, Washington Heights has a huge Jewish, especially Orthodox community, so they may do best just by keeping their eyes and ears open and asking around. New Yorkers are always happy to give their opinion!

Grow their own! Many spots on the internet that tell how to grow in apts. or less than a full garden situation veggies and fruits.

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One thing that occured to me - your friends might need to adjust their expectations of what is "local" and what is "in season." Local produce in the Northeast is a gourmet specialty item, not subsistence food. The locavore movement has allowed small farmers to charge a premium, and they do (more power to them, but it's hard on middle and lower-income people).

Israel is in a similar growing zone to me (equivalent of USDA Zone 8B), and I can eat fresh local produce all year from my garden, it just changes from tomatos, zucchini and okra in the summer to broccoli, chard, kale, and salad greens in the winter, etc. We can harvest tomatoes until the second week in November.

New York is much further north, and while much of New Jersey is zone 7 (not too different), a lot of the farm country in NY is zones 5-6. Local production is tapering off right now to apples, hardy greens, and winter squashes. In about a month to 6 weeks, there just isn't going to be much except out of cold storage or greenhouses (aka, very expensive). I found this chart of what's available in season, but I have to tell you I never got corn, cucumbers, string beans, etc. in my CSA box in September-October. I think this chart is more theoretical than practical. http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/whatsavailable

Our CSA up there was just closed from November to April or May. Farmer's Markets may shut down as well, or change their stock to reflect what is available (more jams, craft items, etc). Your friends may already be aware of this, but if they haven't considered it, the logistics of production and distribution are really different where they live now, than where they grew up.